Pandemonium In Ponyville
by TheGoldenYoshichu
Summary: The residents of Ponyville are mysteriously hit by many pranks. Nopony has any idea who is behind them all. The only clue is a strange mark that is left at the scene of each attack. It's up to the Mane Six and their friends to find the culprits. It also seems like Gilda fears the mark why could this be? Sequel to Cider Number Five.
1. Chapter 1: Just Another Day

**Chapter 1: Just Another Day**

One bright and sunny day in Ponyville, the light blue pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash was hanging out with her best friend, the brown and white griffon named Gilda. The two were spending their day flying and performing stunts like they usually did. After a couple flying races they flew down from the sky and landed smoothly in the streets. They took a stroll through town and met up with their other friends. Their close friends included the ponies Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Along with those five ponies was a purple dragon named Spike. Spike seemed to have something on his mind. He was talking with Twilight Sparkle in an urgent whisper. The dragon had a look of embarrassment on his face while the purple alicorn had a look of amusement on hers. Twilight Sparkle didn't say what it was that she and Spike were talking about which caused the young dragon to look extremely relieved.

The group of eight friends walked along the streets and talking to each other. They were all extremely close friends. They chatted about their interests and shared a couple jokes. Their peaceful conversation was interrupted when all of a sudden a loud noise got their attention.

"YEAH!" a voice yelled.

The eight friends looked around wildly for the source of the noise.

"Look out everypony!" the voice yelled excitedly.

Gilda looked to the skies and she saw who was speaking. She closed her golden yellow eyes and shook her white feathered head with a sigh. Rainbow Dash looked at her and she seemed to see something in the griffon's facial expression that the others could not.

"Lightning Dust?" Rainbow Dash asked in a tone that suggested that she was expecting the worst.

"Lightning Dust." Gilda answered in the same tone.

Rainbow Dash's purple and pink eyes rolled as she spoke again.

"How many times is she gonna try this?" Rainbow Dash asked with a groan.

"Until she gets it right." Gilda answered. "You know Lightning Dust. When she has a stunt in her mind she doesn't stop performing it until she can do it perfectly."

"Yeah you're right about that." Rainbow Dash agreed with a small sigh.

Gilda then turned to the pink pony beside her and spoke.

"Hey Pinks." Gilda said to Pinkie Pie. "Can you get the mattress for us again please?"

Pinkie Pie nodded and she quickly ran off. Within seconds she came back with a giant mattress. Gilda and Rainbow Dash held it above their heads and watched the speck in the sky that was Lightning Dust get closer and closer. The duo moved towards where she would land and waited. Everypony in the area backed away as was common accord. Soon enough Lightning Dust landed right on the mattress. She had a look of disappointment on her face. She jumped off of the mattress and spoke with a sigh.

"Too short." she said. "I'm gonna need more power next time. Thanks for the soft landing guys."

"No problem Lightning." Rainbow Dash said in a cheerful and relieved tone.

"When are you gonna stop with this stunt?" Gilda asked her daredevil friend.

"You kidding me G?" Lightning Dust asked incredulously. "This stunt is awesome and I'm gonna get it right one of these days. Just you wait."

"Yeah well today's not that day." Rainbow Dash said.

"Neither was yesterday." Gilda added.

"Or the day before that." Rainbow Dash continued with a grin.

"Or the day before that." Gilda echoed with her own grin.

"All right I get it." Lightning Dust said in an irritated tone. "Once I get this stunt right I'll wipe those grins right off your faces. See ya!" With that she zoomed off to the skies while Gilda and Rainbow Dash shook their heads at the reckless daredevil's stubbornness.

For an entire week Lightning Dust had been dead set on performing a specific stunt flawlessly. She had been hanging out with Pinkie Pie for a day and she took an interest in the pink pony's party cannon. The energetic pink pony allowed Lightning Dust to borrow it for a while and Lightning Dust used its design to build her own cannon. This one was much larger and much more powerful than Pinkie Pie's party cannon was. It needed to be bigger and better since instead of launching confetti, Lightning Dust was launching herself.

After Lightning Dust's departure into the skies, the rest of the group walked on. They really liked Lightning Dust but sometimes the daredevil scared them with just how much she would push herself. They knew that the daredevil didn't mean them any harm but still her reckless behavior concerned them. Thankfully both Rainbow Dash and Gilda knew Lightning Dust very well and they were able to keep her from doing anything that was unnecessarily dangerous for her own sake or the sake of others. Lightning Dust loved going to the extremes with all of her stunts but she was able to recognize when a stunt had more risk than reward. While the cannon stunt was risky it wasn't too dangerous for the daredevil and everypony knew that she wouldn't give up on a stunt once she had her heart set on it. The eight friends walked and talked with each other cheerfully.

"So anypony have any super duper fun plans today?" Pinkie Pie asked energetically.

The rest of her friends all shook their heads. None of them had anything to do that day. All of them had finished up at their respective jobs and they didn't have any activities planned. Twilight Sparkle didn't have anything that she wanted to study at the moment. Rarity had a recent surge in creativity with her fashion so she rewarded herself with a small break. Fluttershy had already tended to her animals so a picnic with them wasn't going to be necessary. Applejack had done her work around the farm and she tended to relax rather than be part of the fun. The cowgirl enjoyed herself like most other ponies but usually she'd either help her other friends or just relax at her home. Rainbow Dash and Gilda had already done a good amount of flying for the day so they decided to take a short break for a bit. Pinkie Pie looked deep in thought. She had no plans so she was going to hang out with whichever friend wasn't busy. Unfortunately for her all of her friends had free schedules. What could she do?

"Why not a party?" she asked.

"Pinkie." Twilight Sparkle began. "Don't you think it's kind of short notice?"

"I agree with Twilight." Rarity said. "Besides many ponies are busy right now."

"Ah don't think we could have a big party like you would want sugar cube." Applejack said.

"At most it could be the eight of us." Fluttershy said.

"And Lightning Dust." Gilda added.

"Unless she cannon launches herself across Equestria." Rainbow Dash said with a laugh.

"A party with just the eight of us?" Pinkie Pie asked. Then her face split into a wide smile. "That's a great idea!"

The eight friends made their plans and Rainbow Dash asked Lightning Dust if she wanted to show up. The daredevil agreed and she flew off to find a spot to have their little party. The nine friends sat down on a blanket in the middle of a field underneath the shade of a large tree. They talked with each other cheerfully. Jokes were shared and appreciated between the group. They all really got along and enjoyed each other's company. They hung around their spot until the sun set. Then all of them said their goodbyes to each other and headed off towards their respective houses. They all fell asleep and anticipated the next day. Ponyville might be a quiet town, but there was always fun whenever these nine friends got together. Little did they know that they'd soon meet another group that had a very different idea of fun.


	2. Chapter 2: The Troubles Begin

**Chapter 2: The Troubles Begin**

The next day began like any normal day. Ponies woke up, ate their breakfast, and then they headed off towards their various jobs. There was nothing at all in the sky that suggested that very strange and unfortunate things would soon be happening all across town. Gilda and Rainbow Dash woke up inside their cloud castle and after a light breakfast, they went off towards their jobs. Rainbow Dash had some cloud clearing to do while Gilda had to train her students at the local gym. After a couple hours of hard work, their work shifts ended and they walked with each other and talked. Rainbow Dash and Gilda chatted about new stunts that they were trying to make and they joked about whatever they felt like. All of a sudden a terrified scream pierced the air. Gilda and Rainbow Dash flew towards the noise and arrived at Carousel Boutique.

The boutique looked normal. The door wasn't broken open and the windows were all intact. The only thing that stood out was their friend Rarity. The white unicorn was laying on the floor and trembling. She looked scared for her life. This was not something that the two friends were used to seeing.

"Rarity what's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked urgently as she quickly approached the unicorn and placed a foreleg around her in an attempt to calm her down.

"Are you okay?" Gilda asked at the same time as her eyes searched the room for thieves or other dangerous types.

Rarity whimpered in fear and pointed to her stockroom. The pegasus and the griffon ran towards the room, entered it, and their jaws dropped in shock at what they saw. The room was a complete mess. There were torn pieces of fabric lying around. A shelf had been roughly snapped in half. A good amount of fabrics, threads, and equipment had been stolen right from the room. But the one thing that stood out more than anything else in the room was a mark that was carved into the back wall.

The mark was a very strange and curious sight. It had depicted three distinct shapes that were surrounded by a circle and separated by three lines that stopped short of the center. One of the marks was the shape of a fist. Another mark was in the shape of a book. The third of the symbols took the form of a flame. In the very center of the circle there was an stranger marking. This one was a small circle that was surrounded by an oval and had a vertical line going down the middle. Rainbow Dash was completely baffled at what she was looking at.

"Did you see where they went?" Rainbow Dash asked Rarity. "Whoever they are?"

Rarity shook her head and held back her tears.

"Don't worry Rarity." Rainbow Dash said reassuringly. "We'll find who did this. Right G? Uhhh G?"

Rainbow Dash turned around and saw that Gilda was nowhere in sight. One moment she had been standing right next to Rainbow Dash in the stockroom and now she had completely vanished from the boutique. There wasn't a trace of the griffon anywhere in the building.

"That's weird." Rainbow Dash mumbled. "Where'd she run off to?"

Rarity didn't know where the griffon had gone. She was too concerned with the state of her own boutique. Rainbow Dash bid her farewell and headed off to find her friend. She spotted Gilda hanging around the town square looking rather nervous. Rainbow Dash frowned slightly as she approached her friend.

"Hey G." she began. "Why'd ya run off like that?"

"Huh?" Gilda asked in a distracted tone. "Oh hey Dash. I coulda sworn I told ya I was gonna look for whoever robbed Rarity's place. Didn't you hear me?"

Rainbow Dash shook her rainbow maned head. She had heard nothing of the sort. She wanted to talk to Gilda about her behavior but she could already tell that she would get no answers from the griffon. The duo walked onwards in silence until they heard another yell. In an instant, both the pegasus and the griffon took off towards the source of the commotion. This time they had been drawn to Sweet Apple Acres. Next to the barn they saw an extremely disgruntled looking Applejack. The cowgirl was pacing about and muttering angrily to herself.

"Ah can't believe it." Applejack grumbled furiously as she continued her pacing.

"AJ what's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked in a concerned tone.

"Some no good pony stole all the apples in this farm." Applejack replied hotly. "When Ah get my hooves on them."

Rainbow Dash noticed that the strange mark from before had been carved into the side of the barn. Applejack said that she had no clue what the mark meant since she had never seen it before. Rainbow Dash tried to point out the symbol to Gilda but the griffon had vanished once again. There was no sign of her anywhere on the farm. Rainbow Dash was definitely getting very curious and a bit annoyed by her best friend's odd behavior. After assuring Applejack that she would catch the thief, Rainbow Dash flew off into Ponyville to find Gilda again.

It took a little while but soon enough Rainbow Dash managed to find her best friend Gilda. The brown and white griffon had seemed even more distracted and nervous than she did before. Rainbow Dash wanted to talk to her but she felt it best to protect Gilda's privacy. She didn't want to get Gilda angry or anything. The two friends walked on until they saw Lightning Dust. The daredevil flier was covered in ash and she had an extremely angry look on her face. The two fliers quickly approached their friend to find out what had happened.

"Lightning what the hay happened to you?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend in amazement.

"Some haybrains messed with my cannon." Lightning Dust said angrily. "Instead of launching me sky high, the thing just exploded. They left this next to it." She tossed down a plank of wood that bore the same exact mark as the barn at Sweet Apple Acres and the stockroom at Carousel Boutique. Mumbling darkly to herself about what she'd do if she found whoever messed with her cannon, Lightning Dust stormed away in rage. Rainbow Dash tried to point out the mark on the wood to Gilda, but the griffon didn't pay attention. She hastily pointed out SugarCube Corner and then she suggested that they should stop by to see Pinkie Pie and have a bite to eat.

The pegasus nodded in agreement. While she was concerned about her best friend's curious behavior, Rainbow Dash was starting to get a little bit hungry. The two friends headed towards their destination. When Rainbow Dash and Gilda entered the bakery, they immediately ducked for cover. Pinkie Pie was standing on a table and she was angrily hurling cupcakes at them. The pink pony had an unusually angry look on her normally cheerful face.

"Stay back you big meanies!" she shouted. "You're not stealing anything else from me!"

"Pinkie relax it's just us!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she dodged past the flying pastries. She might have been hungry for some cupcakes but she preferred to feed herself.

Pinkie Pie calmed down a bit. Well at the very least she stopped bombarding the duo with cupcakes. She said that somepony had broken into the stockroom of the bakery and stolen some of the bakery's most delicious frosting. The pink pony led the way into the stockroom and just like every incident before, the symbols were at this scene too. They had been smeared onto the wall with frosting. Rainbow Dash tried to point this out to Gilda but the griffon didn't seem to want to listen. Rainbow Dash was starting to get irritated at her best friend. Why was she making up these excuses to not talk about the mark? The duo left the bakery and before Rainbow Dash could open her mouth to talk to Gilda, they heard another scream of terror.

Quick as a flash, they followed the frightened screams until they arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. The timid yellow pegasus pony was cowering in fear. When she saw her friends she silently pointed towards her chicken coop. The chickens were squawking and raising a ruckus. It took no time for the duo to figure out why they were acting this way. All of the eggs had been stolen and once again the mark had been left here too. This time it had been left behind with chicken feathers that had been poked into the side of the coop. Rainbow Dash gently assured her friend that they'd find out who stole the eggs and they'd bring the eggs back safe and sound. Gilda had once again vanished from sight and Rainbow Dash was now beyond annoyed. She was getting pretty angry.

The rainbow maned pegasus tried to talk to Gilda but the griffon ignored her. Rainbow Dash was not used to being ignored by anypony. It was especially odd that it was her best friend that was giving her the silent treatment. Rainbow Dash gave Gilda a very suspicious gaze as the duo walked onwards. Rainbow Dash had decided to talk to Twilight Sparkle. Maybe the alicorn could shed some light on the situation. She did know more about anything than anypony Rainbow Dash knew. Hopefully she would know what the mark meant since Gilda was refusing to talk.

When the duo arrived at Twilight Sparkle's castle they were greeted with a very angry purple alicorn. Twilight Sparkle's gaze of intense anger softened when she realized that it was her friends that had come to her castle. She explained that a number of books had been stolen. When her friends asked if she knew who did it, Twilight Sparkle pointed out a mark on the wall that had been left there with black ink.

"Okay G." Rainbow Dash said fiercely. She was determined to get some answers from her friend. "Just what's going on here? What does this mark mean? And why do you keep disappearing whenever we see it?"

Gilda stuttered for a bit under Rainbow Dash's stern gaze and then she quickly sprinted out of the castle. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle gazed perplexedly at the spot where the griffon used to be. Then they shrugged it off. Gilda may have been acting extremely oddly but right now they had more important things to deal with. Twilight Sparkle told Rainbow Dash to gather everypony that had been affected by this mark and the pegasus ran off. Within minutes she returned to the castle and she had brought her friends with her.

"Okay everypony." Twilight Sparkle said. "Let's try to figure out what exactly is happening here."


	3. Chapter 3: Studying The Symbol

**Chapter 3: Studying the Symbol**

"Now to start us off." Twilight Sparkle began. "What exactly happened?"

Rarity was the first to offer up her story. The unicorn took a deep breath. The unfortunate incident had affected Rarity tremendously but she needed to speak about it so they could figure out what to do.

"I was working on a design that I had previously made." the unicorn began. "I was hoping that I could perhaps tweak it a little so that it would look just a bit more refined. Then I heard a great crashing noise and I went to investigate. Oh the horror! My stockroom was a complete mess and there were so many supplies that were missing! Then there was that hideous mark. It did not match my boutique one bit. I was so upset that I must have fainted."

Twilight Sparkle nodded and made some notes. Then Applejack decided to speak up.

"Ah had just finished raking up a pile of leaves in East Field." the cowgirl said. "Took me a while but Ah got it done. Then I walked back to the barn and saw that all of the apples were just plain gone. Every single apple was stolen from every single tree. Whoever did it left that mark on the side of the barn too."

The alicorn nodded again and added some more notes.

"I was gonna launch myself out of my cannon." Lightning Dust said angrily. "Everything seemed fine, but when it went off the whole thing just blew up. Just ash and soot everywhere. The explosion completely messed up my stunt and my mane. Whichever haybrain did it left a bit of wood with that same mark on it."

Once again Twilight Sparkle repeated her process of making notes.

"I was just baking a delicious batch of super duper yummy cupcakes." Pinkie Pie said eagerly. "Then there was this huge crash and there was a bunch of frosting missing. The Cakes had been working on it for weeks and now it's all gone. Somepony used some of our icing to draw the mark on the wall. I think it was vanilla. No maybe coconut. But it might have been lemon. Maybe white chocolate."

Pinkie Pie rattled on about the different flavors of icing it could have been while Twilight Sparkle made more notes.

"I just finished feeding Angel." Fluttershy whispered. "Then I noticed that the chickens were making such awful noises. Somepony had stolen their eggs and left that mark on the chicken coop. I was scared. Who would do this?"

"I think we all want to know that Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said in an aggravated tone.

Twilight Sparkle nodded and made some final notes.

"All right everypony." she said. "We've all been robbed today. Our only clue to the culprit is this mark." She held up a drawing of the symbols that had appeared at every single scene. "If anypony has any ideas about it then please share them with us."

None of the ponies in the room spoke. They had never seen the mark before that day. They had assumed that it could have been a different language and they had hoped that Twilight Sparkle could identify it and tell them what it meant. Now however it was obvious that the answer wouldn't be easy to find. At the alicorn's suggestion, everypony began looking through the various books that Twilight Sparkle had kept inside her castle. Though they all searched for hours, they found nothing that gave them any idea about the meaning of the mark or anypony that could be connected to it. Not even the library with its vast supply of books held a clue to what that mark could mean. Rainbow Dash left the rest of the group to their searching and went on her own hunt for Gilda. It was clear to her that the griffon definitely knew _something _about the mark that they were researching and Rainbow Dash was going to do everything that she could possibly do to figure out what was going on.

The rainbow maned pegasus knew that the griffon wouldn't be at any of her usual hangout spots. After a brief aerial search of the town, Rainbow Dash headed towards her cloud castle. The light blue pegasus knew that Gilda could be a tricky sort of griffon. Her instincts were proven correct as Rainbow Dash found Gilda lying in her bed inside the cloud castle. Gilda had hidden herself in the absolute last place that she felt that Rainbow Dash would look for her at. The rainbow maned pegasus instantly knew that the griffon was faking being asleep. She knew that Gilda was wide awake and she was just trying her hardest to fool Rainbow Dash into thinking otherwise.

_Well that's not gonna work on me. _Rainbow Dash thought determinedly. _I know her too well._

"Hey G." Rainbow Dash called out. "I think I see a plate of bacon with your name on it."

The pegasus waited for a moment but Gilda didn't stir. This definitely struck Rainbow Dash as odd since normally the griffon would get very excited at the mere mention of the word bacon. Any other day the idea of that food would get her to literally jump out of bed, but right now it was like she didn't care about it at all.

_Something's bugging her._ Rainbow Dash thought to herself. _Well with Princess Celestia as my witness I'm gonna find out what's wrong. If she knows something about this I am gonna find out._

"G I got prime tickets to a Wonderbolts show!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "We gotta get moving!"

Just like before there was no reaction whatsoever from the brown and white feathered griffon. She just kept up the appearance of being fast asleep. Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed as she looked at her best friend. Something was definitely wrong with Gilda.

_Looks like I'm gonna have to do something drastic._ Rainbow Dash thought. If Gilda wasn't going to wake up willingly then Rainbow Dash would wake her up with force.

She strode over to the griffon shaped bed and tried to shake Gilda awake. None of Rainbow Dash's pushes and shoves made any sort of progress. Gilda just kept on sleeping.

"Come on G enough of this." Rainbow Dash said in a firm tone. "We both know you're faking. Now get up."

Gilda still did not stir from her slumber. She was completely ignoring the rainbow maned pegasus. Rainbow Dash closed her pink and purple eyes and sighed before she spoke.

"I tried to do this nicely." she said in a weary tone. "But you're giving me no choice."

Rainbow Dash flew upwards towards the ceiling and then she dive-bombed Gilda. That move woke the griffon right up. She used her quick reflexes to deliver a forceful punch to Rainbow Dash, but the pegasus had seen that coming. She caught Gilda's fist with her hoof and then she forced the griffon out of her bed. Gilda was definitely annoyed by what Rainbow Dash was doing.

"Okay Dash I'm up." Gilda grumbled irritably. "Now what do ya want?"

"You know what I want G." Rainbow Dash said in a fiercely determined tone. "You've been acting weird ever since we saw that mark. You've been ignoring me and you've been randomly disappearing every time I try to talk to ya. You look so distracted whenever I mention the mark. What's the matter with ya?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Gilda answered quietly. Her eyes did not meet Rainbow Dash's gaze and the rainbow maned pegasus could see that the griffon was troubled by whatever she was thinking about.

"Gilda we're best friends. You can tell me anything." Rainbow Dash said in a calm and soothing voice. "I won't judge ya. You know that. Now come on. What's eating ya?"

Gilda sighed a bit before she answered. Her tone was full of dread but Rainbow Dash could still hear her words.

"I guess I should tell ya." she said. "I just hoped I wouldn't have to see _them_ again."

With that Gilda stood up, grabbed something out of her dresser and then she left the cloud castle with Rainbow Dash. The duo set off to Twilight Sparkle's castle so that the griffon could tell them what she knew. Gilda called the attention of everypony that was in the castle and said that she might be able to figure out who the thieves were.


	4. Chapter 4: Gilda's Darkest Memory

**Chapter 4: Gilda's Darkest Memory**

Gilda sat in Twilight Sparkle's castle as the center of attention. All of the griffon's friends sat in a circle with the griffon at the head of it. Eight pairs of eyes were locked firmly onto Gilda. The gazes of the ponies never wavered from her for even a moment. All eight of Gilda's friends were waiting for her to begin talking. Hopefully they soon would know who was attacking their town, homes, and businesses and then maybe they could stop them.

"You guys remember when Dash told you about those ponies that tried to prank me right?" Gilda asked the group.

Everypony in the room nodded in assurance. They were all familiar with the tale of how Gilda was going to be pranked and how Rainbow Dash had sacrificed her reputation to save her.

"Well remember how Dash said I stayed with her that whole night after she took the prank for me?" Gilda asked.

All of her friends nodded once again. They knew that Gilda had spent the whole night comforting Rainbow Dash.

"Well that was a lie." Gilda said heavily. "I wasn't with her the whole night."

Eight pairs of eyes widened in shock as Gilda had a flashback to that day four and a half years ago.

It was nighttime at Junior Speedsters Flight School. Most ponies were asleep or heading off to bed. Gilda had just been the intended target of an extremely humiliating prank. However Rainbow Dash had managed to see the prank in time and she was able to get Gilda out of harm's way. Unfortunately her heroics had come at a cost. While Rainbow Dash had managed to save her best friend, she couldn't save herself. She was covered in a rainbow of paint and mocked by what was pretty much every student at the school. Rainbow Dash ran out of the room in tears.

After this tragic event, Rainbow Dash cleaned herself off and was consoled by Gilda. The griffon held the miserable pegasus in her forelegs as she cried herself to sleep. Gilda's heart broke as she watched her best friend Rainbow Dash weep uncontrollably while looking so distraught and miserable. What kind of horrible ponies would do this to a pony that was so nice? Gilda didn't have to wait long to get her answer. She was the only one in the cabin that was still awake. She was able to clearly hear the malicious laughter of three ponies.

"That was awesome!" a female voice rang out.

_Chunker._ Gilda thought angrily.

"I'll admit it was very amusing." a second female voice agreed.

_Monochrome. _the griffon realized as she gripped the bed sheets in anger.

"Even though Gilda didn't get hit it was funny to see somepony get covered in paint." a male voice said in an excited tone that had a bit of insanity to it.

_Psyke._ Gilda thought darkly as her fury only grew.

Those three ponies were the ones that were responsible for Rainbow Dash's misery. They had just crossed the line. Gilda may have been brought up to hate ponies but that didn't matter to her at all anymore. Rainbow Dash was the only living creature that had ever treated Gilda with any sort of respect or kindness. The rainbow maned pegasus had gone above and beyond what Gilda could have ever asked her for. Not only was Rainbow Dash kind to her, she was inspiring. She had lit a fire of determination inside Gilda. The brown and white feathered griffon used to be a lonely and miserable wreck that had no passion or desire in her at all. Once she had met Rainbow Dash she had changed her outlook on life completely. The pegasus had given the griffon something to live for. She had given her hope. She had given her confidence. Rainbow Dash was without a doubt the absolute best pony that Gilda had ever met.

_And those monsters made her cry._ Gilda thought as her anger slowly built and became something worse: Hatred.

Rage filled every single cell of Gilda's body. Those three ponies had made her confident and cheerful friend look as miserable and depressed as the griffon had been when she had first attended Flight School. These ponies had put Rainbow Dash into such an emotional hole that Gilda wasn't sure that the rainbow maned pegasus would ever be able to recover from what had happened. The thought of Rainbow Dash not cheering up only made Gilda angrier.

_I'll show them._ Gilda thought. _They hurt Dash so I don't think it would be very wrong of me to return the favor. I'm gonna give those monsters what they deserve._

Without even realizing what she was doing, Gilda got out of Rainbow Dash's bed. She swiftly and silently strode over to the door of the cabin and opened it. Taking to the night air, Gilda used her golden yellow eyes to seek out her three targets. She found them very quickly. The three ponies were walking down the path to their own cabin and they were laughing their tails off. Gilda's anger rose to a level that she had never experienced. Words would not be enough. No insults could truly convey the hatred that she felt for those three ponies. Gilda was experiencing something that she had never felt before in her entire life: the urge to cause pain.

This feeling was brand new to Gilda. She had never felt the urge to cause pain to any other living creature in her life. Nevertheless she was definitely feeling the urge to do so now. A small part of Gilda's mind was screaming at her to go back to bed. That part of her mind was saying that it wasn't worth it to fight these ponies. But the minority was quickly silenced by Gilda's anger and hatred. There was no turning back for the griffon now. She was going to attack these three horrible ponies that had made her time at school miserable and had just harmed her best and only friend. Gilda glared down at the three ponies before deciding to target Chunker first.

Quick as a flash, Gilda swooped down from the sky and tackled Chunker with all of her might. The massive pegasus was knocked off of her hooves as Gilda kept flying. Soon enough Gilda had smashed the powerhouse pony right into a tree. Chunker fell to the ground and she was completely unconscious. Gilda then chose to attack Psyke next since he was easily the bigger threat between the remaining two ponies. She grabbed him by the hooves and swung him around in circles. Then she let go of the red alicorn and the psychotic bully crashed into the same tree that Chunker did and he fell to the ground on top of her in a heap. Finally Monochrome was the last one standing. Gilda picked her up, flew high into the air, and then hurled her down to her fellow bullies. The gray mare landed on top of the bold red alicorn and she was out cold. All three of the ponies were unconscious and left in a pile. The griffon's work was done. Gilda knew that she had moved much too quickly for them to have recognized her. Gilda flew back to her cabin and laid down on her bed. Rainbow Dash and the other ponies in the cabin were asleep and they hadn't heard a single noise from the battle.

Strangely enough Gilda felt no satisfaction from what she had just done. Despite the strength of the urge that she felt and the pain that those bullies had caused her friend, Gilda didn't enjoy giving them a merciless beating as much as she had thought she would have or should have. Surely an urge to cause pain would lead to a sense of satisfaction once Gilda had actually hurt the source of her anger? Gilda had no answers to her own questions. All she knew was that she had just attacked three ponies brutally and she had knocked all of them unconscious. Gilda then fell into a very uneasy sleep that was riddled with dark visions of herself attacking Chunker, Psyke, and Monochrome over and over again. The memories washed over her with waves of anger and guilt.

The next day Gilda and Rainbow Dash woke up feeling thoroughly miserable. The pegasus was saddened by the prank that had just been pulled on her while the griffon had been disturbed by what she had done in response. Gilda didn't say a word to Rainbow Dash about the pain that she had caused the three ponies who were responsible for her heartless humiliation. Several teachers had asked them if they knew anything about it but both of them denied. While Rainbow Dash was being honest, Gilda was lying through her beak. She could never admit what she had done. Not even to Rainbow Dash. _Especially _not to Rainbow Dash. Gilda kept that dark moment of her life a secret from every single pony that she ever met.

All eight of her friends were in shock after Gilda finished her story.

"G." Rainbow Dash gasped. "I can't believe that you did that for me."

"I wasn't thinking Dash." Gilda replied in an ashamed tone. "I wish I didn't do it."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"If I told you someone could have heard us and then I'd get expelled." Gilda answered. "I couldn't lose you. I kept my beak shut just to stay with you. Even if I wasn't kicked out I thought that you'd hate me for it."

"G." Rainbow Dash said again. "I don't know what to say. I'm glad you stood up for me but did you have to hurt them?"

"I couldn't control myself Dash." Gilda said. "I never felt so ticked off in my life. I'm honestly surprised it wasn't worse."

A long and uncomfortable silence followed this exchange.

"So those ponies are the ones that are doing this?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Are you sure Gilda?"

"It couldn't be anyone else." Gilda replied. "But still I can't believe they would do this."

"Why not?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"They don't have the brains." Gilda said. "They're way too unorganized to do this. Here let me show ya."

Gilda pulled out what she had brought with her. It was a yearbook from when she had graduated from Flight School. The griffon flipped through the pages and pointed out the three ponies.

"That's Chunker." she said as she pointed out the muscular mare. She saw Lightning Dust open her mouth to speak and she cut her off. "And before you ask Lightning, yes. She's as dumb as she looks. She is the definition of dumb muscle."

Gilda flipped through some more pages before finally coming to a stop and pointing at a mare with glasses.

"That's Monochrome." Gilda said. "She's a genius and she has all the emotions of a napkin. She's a complete wimp though. She wouldn't last a minute in a fight."

The griffon flipped through the yearbook one last time before she pointed out the final pony.

"That's Psyke." Gilda said. "If you're looking for the postercolt of insanity it's him. He's crazy and he really really likes fire. Everywhere he goes something is always burning."

"He's an alicorn?" Twilight Sparkle asked in shock. "But why isn't he a prince?"

"Don't know." Gilda said. "I don't know how he's an alicorn but he is. And honestly would you want him to have any kind of authority in Equestria?"

Gilda closed the yearbook and sighed.

"The mark you guys saw is their cutie marks. The fist is Chunker's cutie mark. The book is Monochrome's cutie mark. And the flame is Psyke's cutie mark. I don't know what the weird thing in the middle is though."

"But G." Rainbow Dash said. "Why did you avoid it all the time?"

"Bad memories." Gilda said. "That day was one of the few times I ever lost control like that. I felt like a monster. I didn't want to remember that."

Pinkie Pie gave Gilda a bone crushing hug and spoke to her.

"You're not a monster Gilda." the pink pony said. "You're my BPGFF!"

Gilda's eyes widened and she returned Pinkie Pie's embrace. Rainbow Dash may have been her best friend, but Pinkie Pie had the uncanny ability to put a smile on Gilda's face even on the worst of days. Since the pink pony was the Element of Laughter, cheering others up was something she was good at. Soon enough everypony else joined the hug much to Gilda's surprise.

"You guys don't hate me?" she asked. "I hurt those ponies so badly."

"G I would have done the same for ya." Rainbow Dash said. "I don't blame ya."

"Like you said Gilda." Twilight Sparkle told her. "You couldn't control yourself."

"Thanks guys." Gilda said.

They stayed in the hug for a while and then they finally broke apart.

"So what now?" Lightning Dust asked. "Are we gonna sit around waiting for them to come to us or are we gonna take them down?"

"But where will they go next?" Rarity asked.

Everypony was deep in thought. It wasn't likely that the bullies would go after the same target twice. They counted off the ponies that had been attacked. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Lightning Dust, and Applejack had been robbed or pranked in some way so they were out. All that left was Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Spike.

'So it's one of us?" Spike asked nervously.

"Anypony have any ideas about what they'll take?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"There has got to be a reason for all of this." Twilight Sparkle said seriously. "My books, Rarity's fabric, Pinkie Pie's frosting, Applejack's apples, Fluttershy's chicken eggs, and Lightning Dust's cannon. There has to be something that all of those have in common."

They all pondered that idea for a while. What did all of those things have in common? All of a sudden Gilda's eyes shot open.

"Dash." she said. "What's the most important thing you own?"

"What are you saying G?"

"Come on Dash." Gilda said. "Think. What do you have that's more important than anything else? Something you'd hate to see get stolen."

Rainbow Dash thought hard about that. Then her eyes widened.

"All that stuff you guys gave me after Mare Do Well." she said. "If those ponies get them."

The others got the point. Gilda focused her attention on Spike and the dragon racked his brains to think of what was the most important thing he owned.

"I'd rather not say." Spike mumbled. "It's kinda personal."

"Normally I'd ask what it is but mine is the same sort of thing." Gilda replied. "Okay here's what we need to do. Dash get all that stuff you talked about and either keep it with you or put it somewhere safe. Spike you do the same with whatever you care about. These guys are hitting us where it hurts."

'So when they stole my fabric." Rarity began.

"And my apples." Applejack continued.

"And my frosting." Pinkie Pie added.

"And my chickens' eggs." Fluttershy whispered.

"And my books." Twilight Sparkle said.

"And when they messed up my cannon." Lightning Dust finished.

The six ponies glanced at each other before Twilight Sparkle spoke up.

"You mean they're taking whatever we care about the most?" she asked.

"Yep." Gilda said. "Told you they were messed up."

"So what's the plan?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Find everything you care a lot about and keep it somewhere safe." Gilda said. "We'll figure out what else to do later."

The nine friends separated and headed off to find their most treasured possessions. Gilda went into her room and put all of her precious photographs into a box. Rainbow Dash did the same with her Wonderbolts clothing, Applebucking trophy, and book of Equestria's Greatest Fliers that she had received from her friends. She still had some leftovers of the cake she got from Pinkie Pie so she and Gilda wolfed that down quickly. Meanwhile the other seven ponies were gathering their treasured possessions and putting them in boxes. They all met back at Twilight Sparkle's castle and the purple alicorn used her magic to make the boxes seem empty to anypony who looked inside of them aside from the owners. It was an illusion spell that she had learned from Trixie Lulamoon as gratitude for letting her stay in her castle secretly. The showmare had put her hat and cape into her own box that Twilight Sparkle protected.

"Okay now what?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Now we think of a plan." Gilda said. "We need to bait them out and trap them."

The nine friends huddled up and planned out their strategy.


	5. Chapter 5: Trapping The Thieves

**Chapter 5: Trapping the Thieves**

The plan was simple. One of the ponies would leave a box of 'precious belongings' out in the open. Then they'd leave the area and wait for the three thieves to arrive. Once they got close enough to the box, Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Lightning Dust would strike. The trio had been able to design guns that would launch nets to trap their targets. Twilight Sparkle had cast some spells on the nets to make them immune to any sort of magical damage. Another spell that the purple alicorn had added was one that made the net grow tighter the more its victim struggled to escape. They nine friends were certain that this plan would work.

The group set off into Ponyville to put their plan into action. It had taken a few days to prepare the net guns and in that space of time there had been more robberies. The trio of thieves had struck at different locations. The go kart track had their fuel for their go karts stolen. The paintball arena had a huge amount of ammunition taken from them. Many restaurants had been robbed of vital ingredients and equipment. Even the homes of everyday residents weren't safe. Many objects had been stolen from various houses. The objects had high value to the owners, be it sentimental or in terms of money. The signature mark had been left at the scene of every single attack. The group of nine knew that they needed to put a stop to this before it got any worse.

Twilight Sparkle stood in the center of town with a box tied to her back. Pretty much every resident had barricaded themselves in their homes. They refused to leave out of fear for the safety of their treasured belongings. The purple alicorn was waiting for the right moment. Soon enough a cloud overhead was in its position. On top of this cloud sat the trio of fliers. Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Lightning Dust were in position with all of their net guns locked and loaded. Rainbow Dash gave a signal to Pinkie Pie who had been standing on a nearby rooftop. The pink pony then signaled to Fluttershy who then signaled to Rarity and Applejack that it was now time to get their plan started. The cowgirl and the fashionista nodded at each other and they walked over to Twilight Sparkle.

"Well hello Twilight!" Rarity said. "How are you doing on this fine day?"

"Oh I'm all right Rarity." the alicorn responded casually. They needed to sound convincing. "How are things with you?"

"They are going just fine." Rarity said. "My boutique is back on its hooves after that dreadful incident."

"That's good to hear." Twilight Sparkle said. She knew that Rarity's boutique was not doing well but she played along for the sake of the plan. "How are things at Sweet Apple Acres Applejack?"

"Ah'm doing fine over there." the cowgirl replied. "We may not have our apples but we still have some left over from last season so we should do all right."

"That's great news." Twilight Sparkle said happily.

"So how are thing with ya Twi?" Applejack asked. "Ah know that some books had been stolen from ya."

"Oh it's okay." Twilight Sparkle said. "I have plenty more. Besides those thieves didn't get the important book." She placed the box down and opened it up. Rarity and Applejack gazed inside the perfectly empty cardboard container and pretended to be astounded by what they were seeing.

"Twilight dear how did you ever get a hold of a book like _that_?" Rarity asked in a tone of fake astonishment.

"My parents." Twilight Sparkled answered simply. "They gave it to me when I was a filly and I treasured it ever since."

"Say Twi could ya do me a favor?" Applejack asked.

"What do you need?" the alicorn asked her friend.

"Ah need some help getting the new wall for the barn." the cowgirl replied. "Had to get rid of the one with that mark."

"That sounds fine to me." Twilight Sparkle told her. "But where can I put my book? I don't want it to get in the way of the rebuilding."

"Ah'm sure that Rarity can hold on to it." Applejack said.

"Oh no I can't." the unicorn replied. "I have too much shopping to do and I'll be carrying too much as is. I can't possibly hold another package. Especially when it is a treasured possession of a dear friend."

"Do you think I should leave it here?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "If nopony is around I doubt anypony would steal it."

"Ah think that's a good idea." Applejack said. "Besides we can get this work done quickly."

"Then let's get started." the alicorn said as she placed the cardboard box down in plain view from the cloud above them. "Bye Rarity."

"Take care Twilight dear." Rarity replied. "And you too Applejack."

"Have a nice day Rarity." Applejack said in farewell as the three ponies left the square. The cardboard box sat alone in the streets being watched by the three fliers. They waited for just the right moment.

Soon enough Pinkie Pie tossed a message to them that said that herself, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Spike, and Applejack were all ready to help them capture the thieves. Rainbow Dash looked around and she saw that the five ponies and one dragon were all in their positions. Suddenly Gilda nudged the rainbow maned pegasus and pointed at something in the distance. Rainbow Dash squinted and she saw what they were looking for. The three ponies that had been robbing them were slowly approaching the package.

"Can ya believe our luck?" the muscular one asked.

"Chunker my friend that was hardly luck." the bespectacled mare replied. "That pony must have been foolish to have left something so important out in the open."

"Yeah you gotta have brains like Chunker to do that." the red stallion said. The three ponies laughed before Chunker stopped suddenly.

"'Ey wait a minute." she said. This caused Psyke to laugh harder than before. His laugh was maniacal and creepy.

"Oh Chunker." he said. "You have more chunks in your brain than I thought."

"Why don't ya say that ta me face then?" Chunker asked as she glared at Psyke.

"Oh please." Psyke replied. "You could never take me."

"'Ow's 'bout provin' it then?" Chunker said. "Right here an' right now."

"Now now." Monochrome said. "I enjoy a fight as much as the next pony but we should be focused on getting our hard earned treasure first now shouldn't we?"

"Monochrome's right." Psyke said. "Let's grab this thing then we can settle this fight."

"Gladly." Chunker agreed.

The three ponies approached the box and were getting close to opening it.

"Now?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Not yet." Gilda replied.

"Just let them get a little bit closer." Rainbow Dash agreed.

The thieves opened the box and eagerly stared inside.

"It be empty." Chunker said in disbelief.

"Just like your head." Psyke mumbled.

"Well whatever." Monochrome snapped. "We might as well leave."

"Now!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

In an instant the three fliers fired their net guns at the thieves. The three shots were right on target and the three smug ponies were tangled up in nets and they all fell to the ground. Quick as a flash, the other five ponies as well as Spike rushed out from their hiding places and tied the nets securely around the thieves. Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Lightning Dust flew down from their cloud and grinned at their friends.

"Nice work everypony." Lightning Dust said.

"We finally got 'em." Gilda said proudly.

"Can't believe we'd get caught like this." Psyke grumbled angrily as his fiery red eyes filled with anger.

"How dare you attack us!" Monochrome shouted as her steel gray eyes narrowed in fury. "Release us at once."

"Yeah." Chunker agreed as her mustard yellow eyes gave the ponies a glare. "We need ta get ta dat treasure."

"It's empty ya big numbskull!" Psyke shouted furiously. "These ponies tricked us."

"I can't break this net." Monochrome complained.

"Me either." Chunker said. "Psyke burn these nets off o' us will ya?"

"Thought you'd never ask." the alicorn replied. His horn glowed and he shot a bright flame at the net but to his surprise it had no effect. "What the?" he gasped in shock. "My fire. It's not working!"

"I wouldn't bother trying to escape." Twilight Sparkle said seriously. "Those nets are flame proof and magic proof. And the more you try to break them the stronger they get."

The rest of the group surrounded the captured thieves and glared down at them.

"Where'd you put all the stuff you stole?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"Where is my fabric?" Rarity shrieked.

"And my apples?" Applejack growled.

"And my frosting?" Pinkie Pie yelled.

"And my books?" Twilight Sparkle said.

"And what about my cannon?" Lightning Dust shouted.

"And my eggs?" Fluttershy whispered dangerously. Her voice might have been quiet but that was the most threatening part of it all. The others knew that Fluttershy was extremely protective of her animal friends and that she did not take kindly to anypony who hurt them.

"I don't know what you haybrains are talking about." Psyke said.

"I've never heard anything about such things in my life." Monochrome agreed.

"But we jus' stole all those things the other day." Chunker said causing her two fellow thieves to glare angrily at her. "Oh right." she muttered sheepishly.

"When we get out of this net I'm putting tape on her mouth." Psyke grumbled.

"Better put some glue on it to be safe." Monochrome said angrily.

"Enough." Gilda said. "Where'd you put all of that stuff?"

"Gilda Griffon is that you?" Monochrome asked in amazement.

"Blimey we 'aven't seen ya in ages." Chunker said.

"How many years has it been?" Psyke asked. "Four? Five?"

"How about not enough?" Gilda growled angrily. "I'm not into Flight School reunions that much. I'm more into catching thieves like you."

"We'll never tell you where we stashed our loot." Psyke growled.

"Chunker be a dear and keep your mouth shut will you?" Monochrome said as she glared at the muscular pony.

Chunker stayed silent under threatening glares from her fellow crooks.

"Then I guess we're gonna have to find that stuff ourselves." Gilda said.

"In the meantime." Twilight Sparkle said. "I think that my brother might take an interest in you. He is the Captain of the Royal Guard and you did rob a princess when you stole _my_ books."

"Can't believe this." Psyke grumbled.

"If the boss finds out about this." Monochrome whispered urgently.

"I 'ope 'e doesn't." Chunker said. "Me tail still 'urts from the last time I was punished by 'im."

"And just who's your boss?" Rainbow Dash demanded angrily.

"Oh look girls." Psyke said. "Another familiar face."

"My my Rainbow Dash what a surprise." Monochrome gasped. "Haven't seen you since you dropped out. You were quite the talented flier. I'll never understand why you left."

"Shut up!" Gilda roared at them. "Don't even dare try to make fun of her!" The griffon gave the three thieves a glare of pure loathing. The three ponies were instantly silent.

It looked like everything was going according to plan. Just as the nine friends were about to drag the thieves to their fate they heard a noise. A thunderous roar rang out through the silent day air.

"What have you numbskulls gotten yourselves into this time?" a male voice growled.

"Boss you're here!" Psyke shouted.

"'Ey boss good ta see ya!" Chunker greeted.

"Shut up Chunks for Brains." Monochrome hissed. "We just got caught. Now is not the time to act like he's our friend."

The boss of the thieves landed in the center and stared at the nine friends that had captured his cronies. He was a large and powerful looking griffon. While Gilda had impressive strength, this griffon seemed larger and more muscular than her. His claws looked like they had been sharpened every day. His dark brown lion's body looked like that of a muscular hero from a fantasy book. His large jet black wings were impressive to anypony that actually cared. It was impossible to tell what color his feathers were since he wore a mask that covered them. He looked at the nine friends and when his gaze saw Gilda, his brown eyes widened in surprise underneath the mask he wore.

"Gilda Griffon." he said in a growl. "What an unpleasant surprise."

"You know this guy G?" Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief.

"I've never met him Dash!" Gilda said indignantly "I don't hang out with thieves."

"Gilda. I'm hurt." the griffon said. "You don't recognize my voice?"

Gilda studied the body of the griffon and listened to his voice.

"Never met ya before and I'm glad I haven't." she said coolly.

"I guess you don't remember me." the griffon said. "But perhaps you will remember this?"

He lifted the mask off of his face and let it drop to the ground. Gilda stared at the dark black feathers that covered his head. She glanced at the red highlights that surrounded his eyes much like the purple feathers that surrounded Gilda's golden yellow eyes. This griffon even had feathers with red tips at the top of his head like Gilda did. Except that the tips of Gilda's feathers were purple instead of red. None of these traits seemed familiar to the brown and white griffon but then she saw the one feature that stood out. She glanced at the griffon's left eye and gasped. Her golden yellow eyes widened as they gazed at the scar that ran vertically down the left eye of the griffon she was looking at.

"_Gio?_" Gilda asked in shock.


	6. Chapter 6: An Unwelcome Reunion

**Chapter 6: An Unwelcome Reunion**

Gilda stared in shock at the griffon that stood before her. She couldn't believe that she was really seeing him. This was a griffon that she had known back when she lived in Grifforia with her parents. This was also a griffon that she hated when she had lived in Grifforia with her parents. Gio smirked and shook his black feathered head.

"Not quite." he said in a low growl. "My name's Grayback now."

"Changed your name have ya?" Gilda asked sarcastically.

"All because of the makeover you gave me." Grayback said as he gestured towards his scar. "Turned me into this so I pretty much had to change my name."

"All I did was give you a scar." Gilda said. "Anything else that happened to ya was your own fault."

"Can one of ya explain what's going on here?" Rainbow Dash asked in a frustrated tone.

"Ya see Dash." Gilda began. "Gio here was a griffon I knew before I went to Flight School. He was a jerk back then and he only got worse when I graduated."

"I was still one of the best looking griffons you've ever seen." Grayback replied with an arrogant smile.

"Oh please you're so full of yourself." Gilda told him. "Anyway when I came back to Grifforia after Flight School that's when he crossed the line."

Gilda had a flashback to the week after she graduated from Junior Speedsters Flight School. She had already had a huge argument with her parents. Gilda had vented all of her pent up rage towards the two griffons. The next day she walked out of her house and strolled through the streets of her town. She might not have had any friends in this place but any griffon had to be better than her parents.

"Hello Gilda." a cocky male voice said.

Well _almost _any griffon.

"What do you want Giovan?" Gilda asked in an irritated tone.

The griffon gave Gilda a look of annoyance.

"I told you." he said. "Call me Gio. All my friends do."

"Yeah and _I_ told _you _that we're not friends." Gilda snapped.

The two griffons stared into each others eyes. Gilda glared at the arrogant half lion half eagle creature that stood before her. Giovan was full of himself. He walked around acting like he was the best looking thing to ever walk the earth. In truth Gilda couldn't say that Giovan was bad looking. Gilda wasn't attracted to him in the slightest due to his arrogant personality but she couldn't deny that he had a certain handsomeness to him. His tanned body looked like it had been chiseled from stone. His light brown wings were preened to perfection. His sharp claws were always neatly trimmed to give him a sophisticated look. His chocolate brown eyes surrounded by light brown feathers had made so many female griffons melt at the sight of him. If he were to be in a story he'd be the handsome hero that rescued the damsel in distress. Every female griffon in town swooned over him. All of them except for Gilda. She didn't give a rat's tail about his looks. He was an arrogant and pompous jerk and she didn't want to be anywhere near him.

"Ah that's right." Giovan said. "You're not my friend."

"Glad ya finally got that through your thick skull." Gilda said.

"Feeling feisty today are we Gilda?" Giovan asked. "What could be the trouble?"

"It's none of your business." Gilda snapped.

"Do you perhaps miss your little pony friend?" Giovan asked in a mocking tone. He paused thoughtfully before he continued. "Rainbow Dash if I'm not mistaken?"

"Don't you dare talk about her!" Gilda growled.

"I seem to have struck a nerve." Giovan said. "Well perhaps losing her is for the better. Hanging around ponies will only make you weak Gilda. You should hang around more griffons." He paused for a moment then continued. "Like me." he said with an arrogant smirk.

"I wouldn't hang out with you if the only other choice was a parasprite." Gilda said fiercely.

"Ouch." Giovan replied as he put a claw over his heart. "Cold. But that's what I like about you Gilda. You always have a witty comeback."

Gilda stayed silent as Giovan kept talking.

"But like I said hanging around ponies will make you soft." the griffon continued. "Befriending a pony is the worst thing you can do. And for more reasons than just that one."

"I'd rather hang around ponies if it meant getting away from stuck up snobs like you." Gilda said with a glare.

"Careful Gilda." Giovan warned. "Those beliefs could land you in trouble one day. Ponies are weak. Any griffon that befriends them is no better."

"Shut up." Gilda muttered.

"Being so close to a pony will turn you into a weakling." Giovan continued as if he hadn't heard Gilda. "Better that you should be rid of that weakling Rainbow Dash before her influence spreads to you. I'd hate to see a proud and strong griffon get turned into a pony lover."

"Don't you dare talk about my friend like that." Gilda snapped. "I'm warning you."

"Your friend?" Giovan asked incredulously. "It's worse than I thought. You actually _care _about this weakling pony." Giovan spat on the ground as if the mere thought of a griffon befriending a pony was offensive to him. "I knew that it was a bad idea for you to be sent to that pony school. Your parents wanted to toughen you up but I knew that you would turn into a soft weak pony lover."

"SHUT UP!" Gilda roared as she pounced on Giovan. She raised her claws and gave him a slash right over his left eye. Giovan fell to the ground and laid there.

"Who's weak now?" Gilda asked in a tone filled with hatred. She walked away from Giovan and went back to her house. Her parents didn't say a word to her and Gilda didn't say a word to them. She laid down on her bed and felt tears of remorse fill her eyes. She had done it again. She had let her anger get the best of her and she attacked another living creature. What was wrong with her?

The next day Gilda tried to apologize to Giovan but he wouldn't hear a word of it.

"I'm sorry." Gilda said.

"Save your breath." Giovan replied coolly. "It's clear you'd rather hang around some wimpy ponies than a griffon like me. Why don't you go and find your weak little friend if she means so much to you?"

With that Giovan took off into the sky leaving a stunned and miserable Gilda behind him.

"And that's what happened." Gilda said.

Her eight friends were in shock that she had caused harm to another living creature but they accepted that Giovan's insults were far too personal for Gilda to simply ignore. The group of eight glared at Grayback who seemed completely unaffected by the story that Gilda had just finished telling.

"You forgot to mention how you turned me into this." he spat. "You turned me into a hideous freak of a griffon. Why do you think I wear the mask?"

"Gilda did nothing of the sort!" Rarity said angrily.

"She gave you that scar but you had it coming." Lightning Dust yelled.

"You were a Meany McMeanPants!" Pinkie Pie shrieked.

"And she tried to apologize." Fluttershy said.

"But you just wouldn't listen to her." Twilight Sparkle continued.

"It ain't Gilda's fault that you look like this." Applejack snapped.

"You did this to yourself." Spike said.

"You turned yourself into a hideous freak." Rainbow Dash finished.

Gilda was shocked at how her eight friends were standing up for her. She had hated herself for attacking Grayback but all of her friends were defending her from his anger. They really did care about her. Grayback rolled his eyes at the display of friendship.

"Bah ponies." he spat. "They turn griffons into wimps."

Grayback turned away from them and before the group of nine could do anything, his razor sharp claws slashed right through the nets and he freed his villainous cohorts. The three ponies got up and took to the sky with Grayback right behind them. The nine friends stared in shock before Lightning Dust sped off after them. The eight others tried to get her to stop but the daredevil wasn't listening to them.

"I'm gonna take them down!" Lightning Dust growled. "I'm not letting some stuck up griffon insult my friends!"

She charged towards Grayback but the griffon was quicker. He gave Lightning Dust an arrogant smirk before his claw slashed at her wing. Lightning Dust screamed in pain and fell towards the ground.

"Lightning!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew to her friend's aid. Gilda meanwhile had taken off after Grayback. Rage had filled her. That griffon had just hurt her friend. She wasn't going to let him get away with that. She was going to make him pay. She had already given him one scar and right now she had half a mind to give him a second one.

"G! I need your help here." Rainbow Dash called out.

Gilda turned and saw her best friend struggling to support Lightning Dust. The daredevil had taken a hit and was spiraling towards the ground. Rainbow Dash was able to slow her down a bit but she'd never be able to stop her. At that rate the duo would slam into the ground and they'd be in serious trouble if that happened. Very reluctantly, Gilda allowed Grayback and his crew to escape as she flew towards her two fellow fliers. She used her natural strength to help Rainbow Dash slow Lightning Dust's momentum down to a very gentle stop. The three fliers landed softly on the ground and Lightning Dust crumpled, whimpering in pain. She wasn't bleeding but it was easy for them to tell that the injury was painful. They brought her to the hospital where the doctors gave her the best treatment that they could but said that she was not going to be able to fly for another two weeks. The reckless daredevil was really depressed by this thought. Her cannon had been destroyed and now her wing had been rendered useless for the next two weeks. What else could go wrong?

"G." she said. "Can you do me a favor?"

"What do ya need Lightning?" Gilda asked gently.

"Next time you see Grayback." the daredevil said. "Give him a good kick in the tail for me."

"My pleasure." Gilda replied.

The eight friends left Lightning Dust to the hospital's care and they headed off to their own homes.


	7. Chapter 7: Friends Versus Fiends

**Chapter 7: Friends Versus Fiends**

The next day Gilda woke up feeling incredibly angry. Her old enemy Giovan, or as he was known as now, Grayback, had sent ponies to rob and prank her friends and other residents of Ponyville. Then he insulted her and her friends when they confronted him. Then he sunk to an even lower level when he attacked Lightning Dust. The daredevil pony was going to spend the next week in the hospital and then another week being unable to fly because of his attack. Gilda replayed the pegasus' words in her head.

_"Next time you see Grayback give him a good kick in the tail for me."_ the daredevil had said.

Gilda had promised Lightning Dust that she would definitely do what she had asked. The brown and white griffon had absolutely no problems with fulfilling her promise. Gilda didn't really like to cause pain towards other living creatures but Grayback had done the one thing that was certain to provoke her. He had attacked one of her friends. This was something that Gilda would not stand for. She was very protective of all of her friends. Grayback would get what was coming to him soon enough.

The griffon got out of her bed and went into the kitchen. Rainbow Dash was making breakfast for them and there was a slight stiffness in the way she greeted Gilda. Rainbow Dash wasn't angry with the griffon but she was irritated that Grayback had attacked her friend. She was itching to give the rotten griffon some punishment. However Gilda had promised Lightning Dust that she would give Grayback his just desserts so Rainbow Dash agreed to let the griffon fight Grayback alone if it ever came down to a battle.

The two fliers ate their breakfast in silence. They knew that they would see the group of four thieves again. They were definitely eager to show them what happened when somepony attacked their friend. Gilda and Rainbow Dash weren't violent by nature but this attack had struck a nerve with them. They were angry and the only thing that would calm them down was making sure that Grayback got exactly what he deserved,

Once their morning meal was finished, Gilda and Rainbow Dash left the cloud castle and strolled the streets. Most of the residents in Ponyville had barricaded themselves in their home. Gilda and Rainbow Dash weren't scared of the four thieves. In fact they were looking for them. The duo walked side by side until they met with their other friends. The group of eight stayed together and searched for Grayback or his crooks Chunker, Monochrome, and Psyke. While the others didn't have as much of an urge to attack the thieves they were still angry. Normally Twilight Sparkle would try to talk Rainbow Dash and Gilda out of the fight but this time she didn't bother. The alicorn knew full well that there was no way she was going to stop the two fliers and she would be extremely foolish to try. Rainbow Dash and Gilda had a sort of camaraderie with Lightning Dust. The three of them shared a dream of someday becoming Wonderbolts. This caused them to care for and understand each other on a much deeper level than the other ponies. Attacking one of them was like declaring war against them. If somepony messed with one of them, they were messing with all of them.

The eight friends marched on in silence for a while. There was nothing for them to say to each other. A fight would happen once Gilda and Rainbow Dash found the thieves. The most that the others could do was watch and hope that their friends wouldn't get hurt. Standing in the way of the duo at a time like this was dangerous. In a state of anger like the one they were in now, Gilda and Rainbow Dash became much different than what they normally were. They would not let anypony or anything stop them. They would fight Princess Celestia herself if she got in the way of them getting to their targets. Finally Gilda broke the tense silence.

"You guys don't have to stick with us." she said.

"We know you don't like fighting so if you wanna leave go right ahead." Rainbow Dash agreed.

The other six friends shook their heads.

"We're staying with you." Twilight Sparkle said firmly.

"Lightning Dust is our friend too." Fluttershy whispered in agreement.

"We're not letting you face that big Meany McMeanPants alone." Pinkie Pie said.

"If he wants ta fight ya then he better be ready to face all of us." Applejack said fiercely.

"We will not allow that ruffian get away with hurting poor Lightning Dust." Rarity agreed.

"We'll fight them with you if we have to." Spike said in a determined tone.

Rainbow Dash and Gilda nodded and the group of eight kept walking onwards. They'd find those thieves soon. While Gilda had made sure that the others knew to let her take on Grayback alone, she said that they could attack the other three as much as they wanted. Gilda had made her promise to Lightning Dust. Gilda always made sure to keep her promises. Especially when those promises concerned friends who had been attacked. Soon enough they noticed the group of four thieves standing in a group. Rainbow Dash and Gilda nodded to each other. This was it. The huge battle would begin very soon. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy had agreed to help them fight the thieves in the air while the other four friends would do what they could from the ground.

"Hey Grayback!" Gilda yelled.

Instantly the dark griffon turned and faced Gilda. His face held a look of amusement as he gazed at the group of eight.

"Well what now?" he said mockingly. "Come to get hurt again?"

His three cronies snickered as he continued.

"Did I hurt your little friend?" he asked. "Did I scratch her little wing too hard?"

"That does it!" Gilda snapped. "I've had enough of you! Time to settle this. Me and you."

"Eight against four?" Grayback asked. "And here I thought you preferred a fair fight."

"This is a fair fight." Rainbow Dash said. "There's only four of us that can fly."

The rainbow maned pegasus stepped up next to Gilda along with Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle.

"You've got to be kidding me." Grayback said. "Hardly any of you are actually fighters." He pointed his claws at Fluttershy and spoke. "This one looks like she'd run away from seeing a fight." Then he turned his attention to Twilight Sparkle. "And this one looks like she had only read about a fight." He sneered at the group as he continued. "You have no chance of beating us. But if you insist we shall prove it." He spoke his next words over his shoulder. "Are you guys ready?" he asked in a cocky tone.

Instantly his crew nodded. Psyke's horn glowed in anticipation. He looked like he was eager to do some fighting. Chunker showed off her rather large muscles towards the group just to prove that she was intimidating. Monochrome gave the group of eight an arrogant grin as she bent her legs and prepared to take to the skies at any moment.

The eight fliers glared at each other for a moment and then they all rose into the sky at once. Gilda had went straight for Grayback. Unfortunately she hadn't formed a clear strategy with her teammates so they were left in a state of confusion. This was something that Grayback was quick to pick up on.

"Attack Pattern Alpha." he said to his team with a grin.

Instantly the three ponies got into a formation. They flew in a way that made it nearly impossible for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle to get a clear shot at them. The trio of thieves worked together in perfect harmony. They attacked their opponents so rapidly and flawlessly that they had no chance to react. Meanwhile Gilda was doing everything that she could do to defeat Grayback. Hopefully his team would get confused once their leader was forced to ditch the battle. However Grayback was an expert fighter. He dodged Gilda's attacks effortlessly and countered with his own. Gilda took punch after punch from the griffon. She got the wind knocked out of her by Grayback. Gilda was a talented fighter but Grayback was better. He hardly broke a sweat as he brutally punched, kicked, and tackled the brown and white griffon.

Gilda took a huge punch from Grayback and she was forced backwards by its strength. Grayback floated in the air with his wings and smirked at Gilda. Then he gestured towards the battle that was taking place below them. Gilda's eyes widened in shock. Battle wasn't the word that she would use to describe the situation. The term that first came to the griffon's mind was massacre. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle were getting picked apart. The three thieves definitely worked well together. It was clear that Gilda needed to do something and quickly.

"Guys regroup!" she yelled.

Her friends didn't need to be told twice. They quickly broke off from their fights and gathered around Gilda.

"We're getting destroyed out here G!" Rainbow Dash said in a frustrated tone.

"We can't beat them." Fluttershy whispered in a hopeless tone.

"We need a plan." Twilight Sparkle said as she looked at Gilda.

"What are you looking at me for?" she asked.

"You're the leader Gilda." Fluttershy said.

"You know much more about fighting than any of us." Twilight Sparkle agreed.

"If anyone can get us to win this it's you." Rainbow Dash said.

Gilda closed her golden yellow eyes. She needed a plan. She noticed the way that Chunker, Monochrome, and Psyke stuck to each other like they were glued together. They had never strayed away from each other. They had moved and attacked as one. This thought gave Gilda an idea.

"Guys we need to divide and conquer." she said.

The three ponies gave her a questioning look as she continued.

"Dash you go after Monochrome. Twi focus on Psyke. Fluttershy you're up against Chunker." she explained. "If you beat them help each other out."

The three ponies nodded to confirm that they understood Gilda's plan. They split up and resumed the battle.

Gilda flew back up to continue her one on one fight with Grayback. She tried her best to avoid glancing at the battle below her. It wouldn't do her any good to get distracted.

"Had enough?" Grayback taunted.

"This isn't over." Gilda said. "It's just getting started."

The two griffons faced off against each other in a ruthless battle.

Meanwhile down below them six ponies were also in their own fight.

"Remember the plan guys." Rainbow Dash shouted to her friends.

The three of them watched their opponents carefully. Monochrome was in the middle so Rainbow Dash was going to have to strike first. She prepared herself and then she lunged at the gray mare. Her ferocious attack broke up the trio's formation long enough for Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle to separate Chunker and Psyke from each other. Now instead of one big battle there were three smaller battles.

Rainbow Dash fought Monochrome and she saw how quickly Gilda's strategy had paid off. Monochrome worked well with her teammates but when she was alone she was vulnerable. Rainbow Dash attacked her enemy without any sort of hesitation and the gray mare couldn't even react in time to any of the rainbow maned pegasus' attacks. Within less than a minute Monochrome fell from the sky and hit the ground. The gray mare tried to get back up but she ultimately collapsed. One of the thieves was down.

"This cannot be happening." Monochrome grumbled angrily.

Rainbow Dash grinned to herself as she watched her friends tie the gray pony up. Then she went off to help her friend Fluttershy with her fight.

Twilight Sparkle was in combat with Psyke. The purple alicorn was now seeing what Gilda meant. Psyke _really _liked fire. The bright red alicorn blasted flame after flame towards Twilight Sparkle, who desperately avoided the attacks and searched for an opening.

"What's the matter Your Majesty?" Psyke asked with a mad cackle of laughter. "Can't stand a little heat?"

Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed as she shot a stream of water towards Psyke. It didn't hurt the insane alicorn but it did prevent him from using his fire attacks. The red pony quickly flew away from the stream of water and he tried to fight back. Unfortunately Twilight Sparkle then fired an ice spell at him which froze up the water that was dripping from his wing. Psyke fell to the ground as the frozen water weighed him down.

"Can't believe I'd get beat." he said. The four on the ground quickly tied him up the same way that they had tied up Monochrome. There was no way that Psyke was escaping. He was far too weak to use his fire. Now only Chunker and Grayback remained.

Chunker had been fighting against Fluttershy this whole time and now she had Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle to deal with as well. The massive mare grabbed Rainbow Dash and hurled her towards Twilight Sparkle. The two friends collided but they stayed in the air. What happened next was too quick for anypony to see. One moment Chunker was laughing at what she had just done. Then a few seconds later she was lying on the ground and being glared at by a very angry Fluttershy. The muscular pegasus was quickly tied up and now only the two griffons were fighting.

"Looks like it's just you and me Grayback." Gilda said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Grayback growled.

The two griffons fought with each other. Their teammates watched from the ground, unable to help them. Grayback's crew had been tied up while Gilda's team had agreed to let her fight Grayback by herself. Gilda heard the cheers of encouragement from her friends which pushed her to fight on.

"How pathetic." Grayback said. "I always knew that ponies were weak with all their friendship junk."

"Well those _weaklings _just demolished your team." Gilda shot back. "Those _wimps _are my friends."

"Some friends they are." Grayback said. "They're not even trying to help you."

"They're doing everything that they need to." Gilda said. "I wanted to fight you by myself and they're letting me do that. They're cheering for me because they care about me. But it looks like your team doesn't really care about you. They haven't said anything since we beat them."

This was definitely true. Chunker, Monochrome, and Psyke were not cheering for Grayback. The trio of thieves hardly cared anymore about the fight. They had already lost so what was the point of giving any support? Whether or not Grayback defeated Gilda, he still had seven others to deal with. There was no way that he would win that kind of fight.

Grayback ignored Gilda's statement. The duo kept up their fight for a while. While Gilda's friends kept on cheering for her, Grayback's team remained silent. Psyke didn't even bother trying to burn away the ropes that bound him. The red alicorn knew that he'd get attacked if he tried to escape.

The two griffons fought on. They were not going to let the other win. Gilda was determined to fulfill her promise to Lightning Dust. Grayback only cared about keeping himself out of jail. Grayback would ditch the fight if he could but he knew that Gilda would not let him escape. All he could do was defeat Gilda and then fly away from Ponyville as fast as he could. Once he escaped he could figure out how to get his team out of prison.

Grayback slashed at Gilda's wing the same way he had attacked Lightning Dust. However Gilda had seen that coming and she grabbed hold of Grayback's claws. Then she grabbed his other claws and flew high into the air. She made circles in the air and flew straight downwards. She could hear the cheers from her friends as she got closer and closer to the ground. At the very last second she let go of Grayback causing him to slam into the ground. Then she flew upwards into the sky. Grayback had been defeated by her. As she watched her enemy get tied up, Gilda stretched out her forelegs and let loose a thunderous roar of pride. The battle was over. They had won.


	8. Chapter 8: The Aftermath

**Chapter 8: The Aftermath**

In the week that followed the battle many things happened. Grayback and his team had been taken into custody. Shining Armor managed to get the location of their hideout from the thieves and he investigated it. He and his team of ponies found all of the belongings that the foursome had stolen and all of them were used as evidence in their trial. Each member had been found guilty of theft and assault and they were all sent to prison for five years. The owners of the stolen goods had been overjoyed to see their belongings returned. Lightning Dust had been given a free cannon as compensation for her loss as well as a reward for assisting in capturing the thieves. Gilda, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy were given awards for outstanding heroic efforts by Shining Armor at a formal ceremony.

Lightning Dust may have been released from the hospital but she was still grounded for another week. However the daredevil refused to let that get to her. She used her newly acquired cannon to try and perfect her stunt. If she wasn't launching herself from it she was sprinting through the streets of Ponyville. Lightning Dust still pushed herself to the limit. She did not want to be out of shape when her wing healed up. She felt that it would be harder for her to fly if she wound up gaining weight from two weeks of inactivity. Lightning Dust was determined to make up for the week that she had spent lying in a hospital bed. She pushed herself as much as she could. While her wing was still healing, the rest of her body was fine so she saw no reason to stop with her stunts.

Applejack had managed to get Sweet Apple Acres running again. The apples that had been recovered were used to make some of the finest cider, pies, fritters, and other foods and drinks around. Sweet Apple Acres had also gotten its share of publicity so they had more business than usual. Rarity meanwhile had been working overtime to fill out all of her massive orders of clothing. Many ponies had been ordering from her boutique since the attack and she was busier and happier than ever before. Fluttershy's life had gone largely unchanged since the events. She had earned her fair share of praise but that was about it. The only important change was that she had gained a little bit of confidence. It wasn't a lot but it was better than nothing.

Pinkie Pie had used the frosting that had been recovered to make up a batch of cupcakes. They were a huge success in Ponyville and other towns. SugarCube Corner's business boomed as orders piled in. Though almost all of the sweet cupcakes were sold, Pinkie Pie saved nine of them for herself and her friends. The group of nine went on a picnic and they all enjoyed the cupcakes that Pinkie Pie provided. Spike meanwhile had gotten some sincere praise from the local townsponies. He was confused since he didn't really do anything but he appreciated the compliments all the same. They meant a lot to him. Twilight Sparkle had been asked to tell the story of the battle by many ponies. She had never seen any fillies be so interested in a story that wasn't fiction so she gladly obliged. The ponies had been in awe of her bravery and fighting prowess. Some fillies wished that they would be like her. Twilight Sparkle had never ever blushed a heavier shade of red before in her life than she did on that day.

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash and Gilda were sitting on a cloud by themselves. They had gotten extraordinary amounts of praise from the townsponies for how they fought the thieves. However right now they wanted to be alone. Gilda had a lot on her mind and Rainbow Dash wanted to be with her.

"You okay G?" the pegasus asked her friend.

"Yeah." Gilda replied though Rainbow Dash knew that the griffon wasn't being honest.

"You're thinking about them aren't you?" she asked.

Gilda sighed as she responded. She knew what Rainbow Dash meant by that question.

"Yeah." she said. "I feel like its my fault that they became thieves. I attacked all of them and now this happens."

"Gilda this is not your fault." Rainbow Dash said firmly. "You did hurt them but they chose to be thieves. They made their own mess. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I just wish that I could of controlled myself." Gilda said somberly.

"Gilda." Rainbow Dash said quietly. "We all do things we're not proud of. I've made my share of mistakes. But I put all of them behind me. You can't blame yourself for this. They pushed you to your limit. You couldn't just walk away from them." Rainbow Dash's sympathetic expression changed to a mischievous look as she continued her speech. "Don't beat yourself up G. That's my job."

Gilda gave her friend a mischievous grin as she replied.

"Oh really?" she asked. Then she tackled Rainbow Dash and the two of them got into a playful fight. They wrestled with each other and laughed the whole time. Things were finally back to normal for the two friends.

**The End!**

**Author's Note:**

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this story. I'd like to thank all of you for reading it. Reviews are appreciated as always.


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